Back around the first of the year, one the large chain-type pet stores was running a sale on Otocinclus cats for $1 each. I have wanted to set these guys up for spawning for the past several years so I purchased a bag of them.

Well after 4 months of growing them to adult size and fattening them up, they have spawned for me. I’m keeping them in 100% rain water with the temperature at 78F. They are eating algae from anubias plants I rotate in and out of the tank, spirulina sticks, veggie wafers, and Repashy “Soilent Green” gel food.

Newly hatched with yoke sac attached…..

2 to 3 days old…..

3 weeks old…..

It has now been almost a month since I spotted the first fry. There are currently 3 groups of fry present in the tank. 2 from the first spawn at .5+ inches in length, 5 from the second spawn at .25+ inches, and an unknown number of new fry at less than .25 inches.

Well I have it on good authority that I have both Otocinclus mariae and O. vestitus in the tank. Once the fry are a bit bigger I should be able to tell. I’m reluctant to start moving the adults around at this time.

Here’s the photo the fish were IDed from…..

The middle fish is the Otocinclus mariae, there at 2 of these in the tank. The other two are the Otocinclus vestitus, there are 4 of these in the tank.

Thanks Mike. Unfortunately I have not seen any eggs. I have watched the fish clean the undersides of anubias leaves and then assume the classic “T” spawning posture, but as the leaves curl in towards the center of the plant I am unable to see the undersides where the eggs are being deposited.

Thanks Matt. I can try to get a photo of the tank, but it’s nothing special. It’s a standard 10 gallon US sized tank, (20″ x 10″ x 12″), with a corner HMF. It has a small crypt wendtii in a terracotta pot and a couple of anubias plants, one is a very dense dwarf variety and appears to be the main area of spawning activity. It has my standard course black gravel substrate.

Prior to finding the first fry, I was rotating anubias plants in and out of the tank letting the fish do a bit of algae clean-up on them.

The tank is positioned in the rack with the narrow end pointing out, and as such in not very photogenic.